>> hello, and welcome to al jazeera. i'm del wall certificates. these are your headlines at this hour. >> it's up to the security council only, and exclusively to deal with this issue. >> the syrian ambassador warning the west not to take any actions against his country. >> i have a dream. >> 50 years after the march on washington, looking back and remembering both the dream and the dreamer. >> and the army doctor turned killer, a jury decides whether he lives or if he dies.

>> the syrian government now calling on the u.n. to investigate chemical weapons on syrian army soldiers. syrian ambassadors gathering in new york to discuss potential military intervention there. meanwhile u.n. chemical inspectors continue their investigation into the august 21st attack i in a suburb of damascus. prime minister david cameron calling for meetings. joining us now for the latest diplomat i can updates. do we now know what was on the draft resolution on the part of the british government? >> we don't. no one is leaking over this. normally there are a few leaks,

but on this occasion we really don't know what is in this document. to be clear there was a meeting in the side room involving the five permanent security council. the united kingdom, the united states, france, russia, and china. there was also a meeting taking place, and i it's still going on at the u.n. involving haiti. after either of those meetings they could have come out and spoken to the press, but they did not. unless they can find some form of words, which they've been unable to come up with so far, then russia and china will veto the resolution. they're trying to dot every "i" and cross every "t." this is an incredibly clever

man. he speaks five languages, he's given to rambling on with long answers that nobody is able to follow very easily, but today he was not like that. he came out with a direct statement. he said, syria is in a state of war right now. preparing for the worse. take a look. >> it's up to the security council only and exclusively to deal with this issue. it is not up to the united states or anybody else to aggress any member of the united nations on basils allegations that are not yet clarified scientifically and politically speaking by the investigation team. >> but john, as this war of words unfold. there are still the u.n. inspectors on the ground. how safe are they? what happens if there is an attack? >> i think if there were to be an attack, and the inspectors were in their hotel in damascus,

then they would be fairly safe and protected from that. but the problem is what you don't want is for them to be surrounded by syrian military officials to hold them hostage or an angry mob or crowd as they make their way to the airport. we'll see these inspectors come out before there is any kind of an attack. the state department will probably tip off the united nations and tell them to leave. there is a precedence of this in baghdad the inspectors were in before the missiles went in. we heard from ban ki-moon, the secretary general of the united nations, he referred to the august 21st incident, the inspectors are gathering hair samples, blood samples, all that kind of stuff. whether they need a four more days to get more evidence we

simply don't know. they probably have a lot already. one other line coming out of the u.n. the special representative speaking in geneva appeared to oppose the obama administration, who has supported his efforts up until now. he said if the attack happens, if obama gives the go ahead, and he'll have the final say, will it be legal. the u.n. charter is clear, if you don't go to the security council first and they don't agree, then it is illegal. >> david, you've been listening. the question is will the inspectors on the ground again today get four more days, do you think? >> well, that does certainly remain a big question here. nobody knows the exact clarifications of what four more days means.

there have been a couple of note regarding the u.n. inspectors that have implied or indicated that they may be until sunday night coming up, so that would be four more days were right now. and not implying that they've completed two, and they have two more. the fact is also that it's not believed that it takes too long for them to complete the work on the ground. two days, they get a lot done, and they've been very productive. they've reported that twice now. two more days gives them a lot to take back home. they have to take samples from the individual people, and they have to take samples from the soil to determine what took place. but the feeling is, as we just heard on the air, of course, they will have to be out of the country before anything takes place, and that most likely they will leave the country on sunday late in the day, and that appears to be the timetable that we're working with, del? >> i'm fascinated that there is a media report you're

referencing which deals with who deals with what, and that perhaps syria was behind the chemicals weapons attack, as the westerthewestern countries are maintaining. >> this would be general to general inside syria's military, where one week ago on wednesday when that chemical attack evidently was launched by them, they were talking about it with each other, and there was some panic form of discussion back and forth among generals. that leaves a lot of things wide open also. does this indicate that all of it, had it occurred that way for them been a mistake? we don't know. this opens up quite a few other questions, but it seems the intelligence of the united states is banking on that yes in fact, it was the syrian regime that launched the chemical weapons.

>> david jackson live from beirut. thank you very much. there is one speculation as to why things may not happen right away and is unfolding in washington as we speak, the nation is looking back at the dream and the dreamer today. it was 50 years ago today that dr. martin luther king gave his famous "i have a dream" speech. thousands of people have gathered at the mall for a very special program that will take place throughout the course of the day. in a couple of hours president obama is expected to speak at exactly 3:00. we're going to hear from members of dr. king's family as well as others. mike viqueira is there live. he joins us now. so much history on that site, and also an indication that so much has changed. >> reporter: you're absolutely right, del, you may notice a my it contraband umbrellas sprouted in the crowd. they were not supposed to be

brought through security, but the lucky few who got them through. you may her the cheers behind me, 50 years to the day this began in washington. this began with a commemoration, a religion service, and shiloh baptist church. there was a march on the other end of the war down to the lincoln memorial. we've heard a number of speake speakers. >> we're obviously having difficulties with the situation down there on the mall. one of the people who has addressed the mall today is the reverend joseph lowry, do we have his sound? >> we come here to washington to say that we'r we ain't going ba. we ain't going back. we've come too far, marched too

long, prayed to hard, wept to bitterly, bled too profusely, and died too young to let anybody turn back the clock on our journey to justice. >> that is the reverend joe lowry, the former head of this southern christian leadership conference stepping down a little less than a decade ago the current head of the naacp naacp, here's what he had to say. >> as we turn on our t.v.'s tomorrow and see people walking out of places where we're being forced to survive on 7:25 by the thousands, let us commit to join them in fighting to lift up the bottom. because as the top of that ladder has extended, the tethers at the bottom must be unleashed.

>> that is ben jealous, the head of the naacp. here to join me to does the events at the washington mall, dr. hendrix. we efficient that dr. king was also a preacher. tell me about the pull mitt. what has changed over the last 50 years over what once was and the focal point. >> for instance, there was no prosperity gospel in those days. there wasn't any mega churches. >> was that a good thing or a bad thing. >> anything that stands in the way of social conscienceness, i think is a bad thing. many of these churches become megachurchs because they don't talk about activism.

>> if you pray for it, god is going to make you rich. >> no long-term perspective at all. dr. king would be a real critic of that today if he were alive. >> let me tell you what a minister told me. he told me this six years ago. he said he would be more active, he would be more vocal, but he had a daycare center and he had a program to care for the senior but that came from the federal government, and he had a fear that if he spoke out that that would be yanked. what would dr. king say? >> i think dr. king would be pragmatic. we need those services at all times, so not everyone has to be out at all times. but each minister must find a way they serve the cause of justice which is the central ethic of the biblical edition.

>> are you surprised that no one has talked about the war on crack and so many people lost theirtheir lives because of it. >> no, i'm not surprised by it because the churches are not at the forefront addressing social issues at this point. dr. king would be speaking out about it. what we have is commemoration and celebration, no really speaking to legislation, no real speaking to the future in the way that dr. king did. >> i want to bring in right now daniel marrie, the leader of the million hoodies march. trayvon martin is being spoken of at the mall, but what about others who have been involved in

justice over the last 50 years. >> there is no doubt that trayvon martin is here today but you're right, there are so many trayvon martins, and the list goes on and on, there is definitely a widespread that's happening in our community, and we need to address that. >> i don't want it to sound as if the nation is not focusing on the situation with trayvon martin. i want to play for you a sound bite from president obama concerning trayvon martin. take a listen, and we'll talk on the backside. >> there are very few african-american men who have not been followed while shopping, including me. there are very few african-american men who cross the streets and hear the car

door clicks while crossing the street. that happened to me until i became senator. when i look at children, and i see them interact. they're better than we are. they're better than we were on these theirs. >> i still have dr. hendrix with me. what were your reactions when you heard the president say those words. >> it was so important to hear those words. so important to hear those words come out of his mouth. to say i have experienced these types of situations. these are situations that every young person of color has experienced. to see the leader of our nation say that was really powerful and important. >> by way of perspective 50

years ago they were saying the same thing about a young man by the name of emmett till. what has changed? >> a lot oa lot has change. for instance, emmett till's murders went free. but we have a lot of abuse of black men, brutalized by police and unjustly arrested, that kind of thing. we have so much to do, i don't know if we should compare it. we should look at where we are today and there is quite a bit to do today, and dr. king would be speaking about those right now. >> and safe to say the three of us would not be on the set discussing it. >> absolutely. >> mr. mauri, than thank you for being with us as well. our coverage continues throughout the days on al jazeera and www.aljazeera.com. special coverage begins at

2:00 p.m. eastern. we'll look back at the day's news straight ahead and first we want to look at history, those words that changed the nation forever. >> dr. king: i have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but the content of their character. i have a dream.

that's the headlines "consider this" is up next on al jazeera. ♪ >> welcome back to al jazeera. i'm del walters. that california rim wildfire is now 23% contained. the good news is that is up 3% from this time yesterday. one of the largest wildfires in california history is spreading deeping into yosemite and inching to homes there it has burned 185,000 acres, and more firefighters by the hundreds are coming to fight the flames. campgrounds have since been closed and the main entrance road from san francisco has also been shut down. dave warren here to update us on

the situation of the rim fire and the situation of mother nature and whether or not she's going to bless the firefighters as they continue to try to fix things there. >> meteorologist: we don't have the rain, and we're not getting it, but we do have wind gusts. we have an impressive view here highlighted is yosemite national park and you can see the fire spreading into that portion of the park. the fire continues to expand. that's all pushing to the north. what is moving north is rain. it's staying to the east of california. showers and thunderstorms likely from the southwest as we get the storms from the south that will bring flooding as we have seen in the past. we have rain coming through idaho and western montana. here is rain going through the

nation's capitol off and on showers not all that heavy but it is heavy to the southwest. just clipping washington, d.c. a lot happening there today. temperatures will climb from 81 degrees to the mid to 80s there. in inned midsection of the country it's heating up with excessive heat warnings in affect. we'll be right back.

>> welcome book al jazeera. i'll del winters. it was 50 years ago today that dr. martin luther king jr. delivered those four famous words, thousands today are on the national mall to look back at his iconic "i have a dream" speech. president obama is set to speak in are a couple of hours--in a f hours. we'll bring that to you live. the syrian ambassador has asked for investigate on chemicals weapons used on the

syrian army. iran is expanding it's nuclear program. iran has installed 1,000 centro huges for advanced uranium enrichment, and they are working on a reactor to create a bomb. they stock pile uranium gas still blow the red line israel has referenced that would invoke military action. if you cause an accident, it means that you spend time behind bars, now a state appellate court says it's not those who are reading texts who could be in trouble but the person who sent it as well. if they know the person who received the text is behind the wheel and is still driver. a teen was texting a driver who then crashed into a motorcycle,

leaving them with severe leg injuries. the conflict in syria hits america. hits it in cyberspace. the syrian electronic army taking responsibility for hacking the "new york times" and twitter. it happened yesterday. the domain names of both sites were compromised when users tried to access those sites. they were directed to sites sponsored by the group. twitter said that no user data has been affected. the sea used their account to report both attacks. army major nadal hassan had nothing to say in his trial. now he'll be facing life or death. he was convicted of shooting friday by the same jury. they heard testimony from victims and arguments from prosecution but hassan denied

opportunities to speak. we'll have updates as they develop. shakespeare has new fans in a prison of illinois. othello.revised as a hip hot tragedy. it's a tragedy tailor made for the hip hot era. [♪ singing ] only this script is 400 years old. just recently freshened up with a modern touch. >> we've been told stories since we were a little kid in rhyme all the time.

>> you need to focus on what you're doing, make sure you

think before with you react or otherwise catastrophic events can happen. >> reporter: having performed all over the world, this is the first true captive audience for the brothers. >> everyone has a chance to make a new life for themselves. the end of the play says why we're here. >> we really didn't realize sort of how that line would resonate until we were doing it, and they were like, that means something different today than it's ever meant. >> reporter: a moment of triumph over tragedy. that's exactly what this art is really about. al jazeera, chicago. >> and we want to remind you that we continue to watch history as it is made down on the national mall of washington, d.c. at this hour. they just heard from the reverend al sharpton, right now one of the many speakers is there at the podium. that bell that you see in the background will be running at

3:00. that's the exact moment that reverend dr. martin luther king addressed the audience there. let's listen in for just a second before we go to break. >> children born today poor will stay poor. millions of americans work hard every day but can't earn a living wage or exercise their right to collectively bargain. public schools where kids need the most often get the least. anleaders this day 50 years ago understood that the struggle for civil rights and racial equality is a struggle for good jobs and decent wages. they understood then as they do today that it is a fundamental right. >> one of many speakers addressing the thousands gathered on the national maul 50 years after the famous i have a

dream speech. our coverage begins at 2:00.